By 
Yesterday, Samsung president JK Shin expressed the company’s expectations to move 10 million Galaxy S III handsets by next month. Today, analysts are reporting that supply shortages and shipping delays may have cost the company the opportunity to move an additional 2 million Galaxy S III handsets this quarter. Carolina Milanesi, analyst for Gartner, chalks shortages not so much up to Samsung’s confidence in their products abilities to compete, but rather that they might have “over-estimated the competition.”
With the HTC One X launching as the phone’s main competitor during Q2 and a new iPhone still a few months away, even more customers looking for a new smartphone may have been drawn to the Samsung Galaxy S3 after the popularity of its predecessors the Samsung Galaxy S II and Samsung Galaxy Note.
Our readers should be all too familiar with these supply shortages after most North American carriers delayed the release of the phone and flaws in the manufacturing process pushed back the launch of the Pebble Blue version of the Galaxy S III in Europe. Even after lowing the expected shipments in Q2 to 8 million, analysts raised projected sales in Q3 to 15 million.
[via Reuters]
Bit misleading. They only lost 2 mil if those 2 million people purchased a different phone, which likely the majority of didn’t. Yeah, it would have been nice for Samsung to have hit 10 mil in a specified time period, but they’ll hit that mark soon enough.
True, they will probably not end up losing 2 mil unit sales. But the delays will impact their financial statements for Q2.
Your take may also be misleading. For all we know, 5 million more people want a GS3. 3 Million of them wait, 2 million of them choose another phone (of which the HTC One X is an excellent competitor) instead of waiting. So 2 million sales lost because they needed a phone now (Broken Phone, New Account, etc), and the only option available was the HTC One X/S.
But yeah, opinions are like a-holes, just like analysts… I should get a job randomly guessing market trends too.
You really think there’s that many people with broken phones? It’s not like you completely lose service when you reach the end of your contract either. While I see your point, you totally went overboard with the example.
It’s worldwide. If you think about over the period of a month, it’s conceivable that there could be that many people that truly need a phone right away, even due to breakage.
I’m just patiently waiting for Verizon to finally release, so I do not fall into the “need” category.
I agree with renGek’s comment below.
Now that samsung is the top smartphone manufacturer, they need to cut apple off from parts and make them fend for themselves so they can keep up with their own hardware demands.
Not cut em off completely, but scale back say 25-50%
It achieves two things, one it allows Samsung to produce more of it’s own handsets. Two it shows Apple that Samsung isn’t as dependent on them as they might think they are, which in turn makes Apple scramble to find a suitable replacement AND it also makes Apple’s anti- Android campaign falter, if Samsung doesn’t need Apple, then Apple looks weak, which would be good for the whole market
This is corporate business. You don’t turn away business. You take in all the orders you can. Its not really Samsung with shortages so much as their suppliers. Samsung probably has no problem fulfilling Apple parts orders.
I can believe it, Samsung needs to step up and realize supply shortages are only acceptable when you are Apple and have a captive market. Android has competition and there will always be impatient people who will take whatever is the lastest and greatest in stock
Yes this is what Apple is doing they made sure that all the mfg were aligned up and working properly.
We’ll see how the iPhone stacks up against this. I predict it will be garbage, just like the 4S
It will be garbage but won’t stop the millions of loyal ifanboys from buying it up anyway.
Correct. Eventually Apple will become a niche market like it was in the 90’s. Only because Apple wants too much control over users. Users like freedom, which is why we love ANDROID!
Apparently they don’t like freedom, judging by the sales of their products. Consumers are just mindless zombies…
Well you can only manufacture as much as you think the demand was going to be. I don’t think most people expected the GS3 to be as massively in demand as it is. If samsung had done the reverse they would have been stuck with several extra million units that would never sell or take months to clear out the inventory. Of course this is a nice problem for samsung…too much demand. If you’re going to have a problem this is the best one to have.
You guys think analysts were right when they said this will be Android’s peak year?
No, I think, as more phones of Galaxy S3 quality come out, more people will start using Android devices. This phone, the Galaxy S3, seems to even be drawing a large iPhone crowd, as compared to other devices. Maybe, once Windows Phone start being more competitive, Android will peak out or if Apple somehow starts innovating something, as in actually gives the iPhone unique, previously nonexistent features.
Agreed my potential sister in-law wants to switch from iphone to this phone.
It’s my fault. My last phone purchase was the Droid Incredible which was back ordered forever and now I have a GS3 on order.
Samsung has done well with S3. I purchased it and really enjoy. I personally would wait for a phone I like; instead of settling for something else. There are enough 10/20 pounds phone out there to get you by whilst your dream phone arrives.